Healthy Pumpkin Pie Parfait w/ Coconut Whip

If it’s still a sunny 25°C where you live right now, you might not be ready for the explosion of deeply warming autumn dishes and hot steaming drinks offered this time of year. But I bet you’re still longing for those delightful fall flavours we’re all so in love with!

So here’s a cooling (and healthy!) way to enjoy creamy pumpkin-spiced heaven.

This parfait starts with a layer of creamy pumpkin pie smoothie – a thick and luxurious mixture of frozen pumpkin, a tiny bit of banana, almond milk, walnuts, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla all sweetened to perfection with a combination of maple syrup and molasses.

Add a nice big dollop of coconut whip (Heaven.)

A hefty scoop of your favourite granola for crunch.

Another layer of that creamy, velvety pumpkin pie smoothie. Top with another BIG dollop of coconut whip, a sprinkle of granola and dust with a little bit of cinnamon. Finish it off with a cinnamon stick if you want to get real fancy!

Isn’t it beautiful? Yes, yes it is.

It’s also healthy enough to eat for breakfast, decadent enough to have for dessert, and easy enough to have as a snack any time of day!

For sweetness I chose to use a mixture of maple syrup and molasses, both of which are great natural sweeteners with really rich and robust flavours. Since maple syrup can be expensive, you can use soft pitted dates as a substitute. Their caramel-y sweetness would be perfect here. You can play around with the level of sweetness and adjust it to your preferences. I like mine to taste very decadent and dessert-like so I like to use LOTS of maple syrup. If you don’t have such a big sweet tooth, start with 1 tbsp and work your way up.

If you’re in a hurry, you can enjoy the Pumpkin Pie Smoothie portion all by itself. But if you’ve got the time I highly recommend trying this treat with all the trimmings!

Enjoy!

Some notes on the recipe:

For frozen pumpkin: Spoon pumpkin purée into ice cubes trays and freeze. You only need about 6 frozen pumpkin cubes for this recipe.

If you’re not using a high-speed blender like the Vitamix, your blender may struggle to blend frozen pumpkin. You don’t need to use frozen pumpkin, the smoothie will be thick enough for a parfait either way. If you’d still like to try using frozen pumpkin, let it thaw for 20 minutes or so at room temperature to soften up a little bit.

For this parfait I used Wild Roots Wholesome Hemp Granola and it holds up really well in this recipe. I left 2 of these parfaits in the fridge for 5+ hours and the granola softened slightly but didn’t become soggy.

This frosty parfait contains layers of thick and luxurious pumpkin pie smoothie, fluffy coconut cream, and crunchy granola. Cinnamon stick optional! This decadent breakfast/dessert/snack is loaded with vitamin A, iron, and fibre! Total time is for blending and assembling the parfait, it doesn't include extra time for freezing pumpkin.

Author: Brittany at ilovevegan.com

Recipe type: Smoothie

Cuisine: Vegan

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

6 frozen pumpkin puree cubes

½ frozen banana

¾ cup non-dairy milk

¼ cup walnuts

¾ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice

1-3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp molasses

¼ tsp vanilla

Coconut Whip

1 can of high quality chilled coconut cream (look for one with as few ingredients as possible. Choose a brand with the highest percentage of coconut, if listed on the ingredient list.) Thai Kitchen, Savoy (70%), and Native Forest are some good options.)

2 tbsp maple syrup

¼ tsp vanilla

Parfait

1 recipe pumpkin pie smoothie

⅓ cup+ coconut whip

½ cup+ granola (look for GF/soy free if necessary)

cinnamon sprinkle

molasses drizzle (optional)

Instructions

Coconut Whip

Simply place your canned coconut cream in the fridge until well chilled. Then, turn the can upside down and open the "bottom" of the can. With good quality coconut cream, half of the can should be a thick coconut milk and the other half should be a thick, dense layer of coconut cream.

Scoop the thick cream into a bowl, add a dash of vanilla extract and 2 tbsp maple syrup.

Whip on high until light and fluffy.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Combine all ingredients together in a high speed blender. Blend on high until perfectly smooth. If you're not using a high speed blender such as a Vitamix, refer to the recipe notes.

Taste and adjust the sweetness as necessary with maple syrup, molasses or other natural vegan sweetener.

If you want this to be an ultra-thick and creamy frozen treat, pour the entire smoothie into a bowl and chill it in the freezer. Stir it up every 20 minutes or so, scraping down the sides of the bowl until it reaches your desired thickness. If you leave it in there too long you might need to re-blend it with a little extra nondairy milk.

Assembling the Parfait

In 2 small jars or glasses, start with a thick layer of pumpkin pie smoothie (about ¼ of the smoothie in each jar.)

Add a big dollop of coconut whip.

Add about ¼ cup of granola.

Top with another thick layer of smoothie (this should finish off the rest of the smoothie.)

Sprinkle with more granola, add a BIG dollop of coconut whip and a dash of cinnamon.

Notes

For frozen pumpkin: Spoon pumpkin purée into ice cubes trays and freeze. You only need about 6 frozen pumpkin cubes for this recipe.

If you're not using a high-speed blender like the Vitamix, your blender may struggle to blend frozen pumpkin. You don't need to use frozen pumpkin, the smoothie will be thick enough for a parfait either way. If you'd still like to try using frozen pumpkin, let it thaw for 20 minutes or so at room temperature to soften up a little bit.

For this parfait I used Wild Roots Wholesome Hemp Granola and it holds up really well in this recipe. I left 2 of these parfaits in the fridge for 5+ hours and the granola softened slightly but didn't become soggy.